Cappadocia was made by volcanoes and carved by people. Millions of years ago, the volcanoes of central Anatolia, Erciyes and Hasan, covered the plateau in thick layers of ash that hardened into a soft rock called tuff, and wind and water have since eroded it into the cones, pinnacles and ridges that are known as fairy chimneys. People found the rock easy to carve, and for thousands of years they have dug homes, churches, storerooms and whole underground cities into it. The area is a World Heritage site, and it is hard to find a corner without a cave or a dovecote cut into a cliff.
It lies in the quieter country south and east of Urgup, where the valleys are less crowded than Goreme, and where you can still find a rock church or a cave house that is not on any signboard. In the Byzantine period, from about the sixth to the eleventh centuries, monks and villagers decorated rock-cut chapels with frescoes, and the hidden valleys sheltered communities from Arab raids. The underground city of Kaymakli, on the ride, has eight levels, though only four are open, with ventilation shafts, stables, kitchens and rolling stone doors that could be closed against attackers.
The riding is pleasant and varied. The main roads are wide and smooth, and the side roads wind between vineyards, apricot orchards and fields of sunflowers and wheat, with the strange rock formations rising on every side. The best time of day is the early morning, when hot-air balloons rise over the valleys, a hundred or more at a time, and the light on the rock is soft. Winter brings snow and ice, and summers are hot and dry. Take care on gravel roads and watch for tractors and sheep.
Urgup has about sixteen thousand people and Goreme about six thousand, so fuel, food and rooms are no trouble. Taste the local pottery kebab, cooked in a sealed clay jug that is broken open at the table, and the local wines, since Cappadocia has produced wine since ancient times.